William of Hesse-Philippsthal (born 29 August 1726 in

Philippsthal Philippsthal (Werra) is a market community in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in eastern Hesse, Germany, right at the boundary with Thuringia. Geography Location Philippsthal lies between the outliers of the Rhön and the Thuringian Forest (ranges) ...

; died: 8 August 1810, Philippsthal) was a member of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...

and

Landgrave Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' ("margrave"), a ...

Hesse-Philippsthal This is a list of rulers of Hesse (german: Hessen) during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These rulers belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the World ...

from 1770 until his death.

Life

William was the eldest son of Landgrave Charles I of Hesse-Philippsthal from his marriage to Caroline Christine of

Saxe-Eisenach Saxe-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Eisenach) was an Ernestine duchy ruled by the Saxon House of Wettin. The state intermittently existed at three different times in the Thuringian region of the Holy Roman Empire. The chief town and capital of all th ...

(1699–1743), daughter of Duke John William III of Saxe-Eisenach. He succeeded his father in 1770 as Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal. William served in the Dutch army as

General of the Cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...

and

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

. William was also

Komtur Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mili ...

of the

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

of the

Commandry In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

of Łagów. In 1806, the Landgraviate of Philippsthal was occupied by French troops and annexed to the short-lived

Kingdom of Westphalia The Kingdom of Westphalia was a kingdom in Germany, with a population of 2.6 million, that existed from 1807 to 1813. It included territory in Hesse and other parts of present-day Germany. While formally independent, it was a vassal state of the ...

. William died before his territory could be liberated from the French.

Marriage and issue

William married on 22 June 1755 in

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

his cousin Ulrika Eleonora (1732–1795), daughter of Landgrave

William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

, with whom he had the following children: * Caroline (1756–1756) * Charles (1757–1793), lieutenant colonel in the Guard Regiment of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, was a state in the Holy Roman Empire that was directly subject to the Emperor. The state was created in 1567 when the Lan ...

: married in 1791 princess Victoria of

Anhalt-Bernburg Anhalt-Bernburg was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and a duchy of the German Confederation ruled by the House of Ascania with its residence at Bernburg in present-day Saxony-Anhalt. It emerged as a subdivision from the Principality of ...

(1772–1817), daughter of

Prince Franz Adolph of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym Franz Adolph of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym ( Schaumburg Castle, 7 July 1724 – Halle an der Saale, 22 April 1784), was a German prince of the House of Ascania from the Anhalt-Bernburg branch through the sub-branch of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumbur ...

* William (1758–1760) * Frederick (1760–1761) * Juliane (1761–1799) : married in 1780 Count Philip Ernest of Schaumburg-Lippe (1723–1787) * Frederick (1764–1794) Imperial lieutenant colonel in a Russian Guard Regiment Cuirassiers *

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

(1766–1816), Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal : married in 1791 Countess Marie Franziska Berghe von Trips (1771–1805),

Mistress of the Robes The mistress of the robes was the senior lady in the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. Formerly responsible for the queen consort's/regnant's clothes and jewellery (as the name implies), the post had the responsibility for arranging the rota o ...

at the court of Queen

Maria Carolina Maria Carolina Louise Josepha Johanna Antonia (13 August 1752 – 8 September 1814) was List of consorts of Naples, Queen of Naples and List of Sicilian consorts, Sicily as the wife of King Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies. As ''de facto'' ruler ...

* William (1765–1766) * Ernest Constantine (1771–1849), Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal : married firstly in 1796 Princess Louise of

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of Schwarzburg dynasty lands. Since th ...

(1775–1808) : married secondly in 1812 Princess Caroline of

(1793–1872)

Ancestors

References and sources

* Carl Eduard Vehse
''Geschichte der deutschen Höfe seit der Reformation'', p. 319
* Georg Hassel
''Allg. Europäisches Staats u. Address…'', p. 247
{{DEFAULTSORT:William Hesse Philippsthal Landgraves of Hesse 18th-century German people 19th-century German people House of Hesse 1726 births 1810 deaths